Evaluation of the quality of Pinus oocarpa Schiede ex schltdl plants in three nurseries of the National Reforestation Program, Honduras

Abstract

The research was carried out in three nurseries of the National Reforestation Program of the National Institute for Forest Conservation and Development, Protected Areas and Wildlife (ICF) located in the regions of Comayagua (La Paz), Olancho (La Unión) and Francisco Morazán (Central District). The objective of the research was to evaluate the quality of Pinus oocarpa schiede plants in the nursery stage before their classification for planting in the field. A protocol was applied that considers the following parameters: height of the aerial part, diameter at collar height (DAC), slenderness index (IE), ratio between the dry biomass of the aerial part and the dry biomass of the root system (RBSA:BSR), lignification index (IL) and the Dickson quality index (DQI), as well as qualitative parameters. The evaluation scale was high, medium and low; it was obtained that the quality of the plants is low both in the integration of the parameters and in the result of the DQI, as well as the qualitative quality related to the shape of the plant stem, the coloration of the aculeus and the phytosanitary state of the plant showed that the best quality of the plants were those from the nursery of La Unión. With the quantitative results, it was found that the height of the aerial part, the DAC and the IE are more feasible for application because they do not require laboratory analysis or complex calculations.